Board by Tris, chair by Robin Day
Board by Tigger ,chair Danish
Board by Graham Nile, chair by Olivier Mourgue
Lie down/sit down combo - board by Wavemaster, chair ye olde English
I don't usually pair boards up but I thought these two looked good together. Two great looking mid 70s swallowtails, both around 7 ft long. The Ocean Magic stinger was made by Pete McAllum in Redruth and is numbered 164, so an early one; it seems most of the boards Pete made in the mid 70s were stingers, based on boards being made in Hawaii at the time. It also has a great dragon spray on the underside - made for a Welshman ??
The Phil Jay, probably made in Devon is a nice looking template with lots of volume even in the tail. High standards of finish and in great condition. Probably slightly earlier than the OM, with the glue on leash patch. Jay's were sold throughout the south west and in his shop in Wandsworth, a mecca for London surfers.
late 70s
early 70s
Got this board at the car boot sale this morning - a complete lucky dip. I quite like buying them like this when you've got no clue whats under the spray paint. Sometimes they turn out not worth it , sometimes they're a result. My friend Lloyd was selling this at his stall, from what I could tell it was mid 70s, and through chips in the paint I could see it had green tinted rails and bottom, and the original gloss finish hadn't been sanded before spraying, which is always a bonus as it can sometimes scrape off easily. I could scrape off bits with my fingernail. It also had a thick wooden laminated fin, which made me think of quality Devon makers like Creamed Honey. Lloyd even said himself theres a chance its a Honey, like the first board he owned. I said it could be , or Bruce Palmer because of the finger thick fin.
Its in clean condition really, with nice gloss and pretty light green tint with yellow pinline, 7 ft x 19 1/2 with the classic Palmer rounded pin. The deck has said hello to a rock at some point and theres a big ding, but can sort that out easily enough. My 4 year old Kitty was gutted I scraped the flowers off, but you can't please everybody ! The underside even had shiny stars glued on - definitely a female owner previously. Restoration is underway , to be continued.....
With an almost identical outline is this great condition Palmer from the Gul collection, and it has the similar thick fin. Bruce was an Australian who came over to Croye area in the mid 70s and started his own label shortly after Kevin Cross had arrived to start Creamed Honey. The two became lifelong friends, often helped each other out with materials, and produced great boards. When Kevin went home in '77 Bruce stayed on shaping and worked under the Lightning bolt licence for a while. He was a good surfer too and won the 1975 British championships. As you can tell from the infamous blue carpet - photos by Alex.
Its been a while since we had any old longboards on so here's a beauty from one of the UK's earliest makers, Williams of St Ives. These are all pretty rare, and this one probably dates from '65 or '66, although the Williams brothers first started making them in 1964 at Keith Slocombe's small factory in Lelant. The other brother Charles Williams started Atlantic a couple of years later, drafting in some experienced Aussies to help produce some great boards. This one has suffered from some delam over the years and looks like it wasn't highly finished when it was made, but its a nice shape and an important board, made at a time when St Ives was the place to be if you were a surfer - or artist ! Thanks to Alex for the photos.
mid 60s
1968
Mark at Newlyn pier. Early 80s on Vitamin Sea twin fin.
and him again at Newlyn pier. Must have been a big swell to get that working.
Sennen 1980. Mark is on an Inner Visions channel bottom rountail twinny. See through star fins and really short - from his memory not much over 5 ft. Local colourful character Jo Crowe paddling out.
Same as above. Keith Prowse (flapper ) behind the wave and Roger Weeks paddling out.
Shaun Tomson, Newquay 1983
Shaun again
Bruce Palmer twin fin and Bob Biniak Dog town skateboard, early 80s.
Mark and his brother Mel, Sennen early 80s, Kevin Cross stinger.
Mark ,Sennen early 80s, Bruce Palmer twin fin.
Mark at Holywell bay near Newquay. He's still got the Echo Beach shorts. Thanks to Mark for sharing his photos.
1979
1978
Carrying on from the Cheyne Horan posts of last week, I had an email from Mark, who had this Lazor Zap inspired board made by Colin Wilson in around '83 or '84. It turned out Mark lived literally around the corner from me so I went to have a look. Its a cool looking board which he hasn't ridden for ages but is thinking of getting restored. Around 6 ft x 20 x 3 inches, its definitely got that zap look in the spray, with a more conventional twinnie template - a bit like CJ's Horan models for Vit Sea. Mark saw Cheyne surfing at the Fosters in Newquay, and this may well have inspired him to get a zap spray .He grew up surfing Sennen and Gwenver during the Skewjack years, and knew Colin and the Sennen crew well; he also worked at Inner Visions surf shop in Penzance, and has some classic old photos of his old boards and haunts which I will get on the blog soon.
Colin was one of the hot young surfers in west cornwall in the late 70s / early 80s, a contest performer and successful shaper. He won the British title in 1980 and the British seniors in 1985.
Sennen surf club competition, mid 80s. Foreground surfers from left to right : Colin Wilson, Harvey Hoare, Jay Vowles and Ross White ( sitting ). Mark's 5 Star can be seen behind Colin Wilson. There's at least 7 Five Star boards in this photo.
Some of the good things in life - a comfy chair and an alcove of singlefins. Got the chair recently - someone was throwing it out !
